According to data from the Ibon Foundation, the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has reached a historic milestone, accumulating P9.7 trillion in debt within just four years. This figure surpasses the total P9.4 trillion borrowed throughout the entire six-year term of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, marking the highest level of borrowing seen in the Philippines over the last four decades. Independent economists argue that these mounting obligations are not effectively addressing the needs of the average citizen, as a significant portion of these funds is funneled into debt servicing rather than productive economic development.

The root of this fiscal strain is attributed to a combination of questionable tax policies and systemic corruption. Critics point to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (Create) Act, which has resulted in hundreds of billions in lost annual revenue by lowering tax rates for large corporations and affluent families. Compounding this issue are substantial leakages within key agencies like the Bureau of Customs and the Bureau of Internal Revenue, where billions are lost annually to smuggling, tax evasion, and administrative corruption. Experts are now calling for a shift in strategy, suggesting that the government must move away from its reliance on debt and instead consider more aggressive tax reforms for the wealthy to stabilize the nation's financial future.